Washington, D.C. — Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-San Bernardino) issued a statement in response to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) score of House Republicans’ Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal plan. This afternoon, the CBO projected that 24 million Americans will lose health care coverage under House Republicans’ new bill. The legislation would also dramatically increase premiums by allowing insurance companies to charge older adults up to five times more for coverage, driving up premiums for older adults by as much as 25 percent.

“Today’s report confirms what we all feared – House Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace the ACA will strip health care from millions of hard-working Americans, drive up premiums for older adults, and give tax breaks to the uber-wealthy. This bill is being rushed through Congress because House Republicans know it’s a bad deal for middle-class families. This bill was written in secret, hidden from the public and forced through committees in the dead of night. Now we know why.” said Rep. Aguilar.

Rep. Aguilar worked with House Republicans in the 114th Congress to improve the ACA by repealing the tax on health insurance plans and on medical device manufacturers. Rep. Aguilar supports improving the ACA but remains committed to opposing any actions that threaten affordable coverage for San Bernardino County families, which includes a full repeal of the bill. Rep. Aguilar hosted a health care roundtable on Saturday afternoon, where he met with Inland Empire health care providers, patient advocacy organizations, union representatives and officials from the San Bernardino County Government to discuss the impact of the new health care bill on Inland Empire residents.

The CBO is a nonpartisan, independent federal agency that provides impartial budget analysis and cost estimates for legislation under consideration by Congress. You can read the CBO report on the American Health Care Act here.https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52486